With the development and deployment of wireless networking devices such as laptop computers, personal digital assistant devices, etc. and infrastructures, consumers and businesses are increasingly being able to realize the benefits of true mobile computing, collaboration, and information exchange. No longer are business travelers required to carry an assortment of cables and search endlessly for an available data port simply to connect to a network to retrieve email messages, download files, or exchange information. No longer are companies and home consumers restrained in where they may access their networks by the location of the Ethernet jacks on the wall. Meeting participants and groups of friends may now form their own ad hoc networks without connecting cables between themselves or logging in to some preexisting network. They can log onto the network using a wireless protocol while running on battery power, thereby allowing even greater mobility.
However, many users are faced with frustration and confusion when dealing with connection failures. For example, if how networking works is a mystery to users, it is an even bigger mystery to the users when things stop working as the users have no clue of what might be wrong or what is causing the problem, let alone how to fix the problem they are experiencing. The error messages users are receiving are often either cryptic or meaningless to the users, and are often out of context in most cases. A great example is the ‘Page cannot be displayed’ message when Internet Explorer fails to reach the page the user intended to display. The point of failure could be in numerous places such as on the client system or anywhere in the wireless network. The above is just one example of the messages users typically see when things go wrong, leaving users with no hint or guidance on what to look for or what to do next to fix the problem.
Connection failures also lead to loss of productivity when users, instead of the task at hand, spend time trying to analyze the cause of the problem and restore their connectivity. Eventually they will end up calling for help with IT Helpdesk, their Internet Service Provider, PC OEM, Microsoft, etc. depending on the scenario. Both the user and support professional have their own perception of the problem & possible causes, which further complicates the situation. The problem resolution often happens through trial & error until the problem is fixed or fixes itself leaving both the user and the support professional just guessing what the actual cause of the problem was. These support calls can often get quite long and costly, reducing the profit margins of the hardware, software, and service providers, and increasing the total cost of ownership for the customer, in addition to lost productivity due to downtime.
What is needed and missing from the art is wireless diagnostics capabilities that are non-intrusive and stay out of the way but in the case of failure will provide prescriptive guidance or possibly automatically fix the problems without putting the user's computer or data at risk. The invention provides wireless diagnostic capabilities. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.